Reciprocating floor conveyors that are used to convey light to moderately heavy loads typically comprise an array of conveyor slats spanning the width of the conveyor, and a few slat drive units mounted beneath the conveyor slats. Each drive unit reciprocates three or more conveyor slats, usually by means of a transverse drive beam, which couples each drive unit to several conveyor slats. Numerous U.S. patents have issued that disclose designs for such transverse drive beam systems. The following are some illustrative examples of my prior U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,709,805, granted Dec. 1, 1987; 4,748,893, granted Jun. 7, 1988; 4,793,469, granted Dec. 27, 1988; and 5,165,524, granted Nov. 24, 1992.
Inherent torque limitations in a transverse drive beam design can limit the payload weight of a conveyor. For heavier loads, such as, for example, loads in the range of 100,000 to 150,000 pounds, it can become necessary to increase the number of drive units per conveyor slat. Yet, where heavy loads are conveyed by a reciprocating floor conveyor, the wear and tear on the drive unit assemblies can increase, sometimes dramatically. Thus, it becomes complex to design a reciprocating floor conveyor for conveying heavy loads that is durable, yet relatively inexpensive to manufacture and easy to install, maintain, and repair. The present invention is directed to such a reciprocating floor conveyor.
In addition, when heavier loads are carried by reciprocating floor conveyors, the conveyor slats tend to flex and rise off of the drive units. Also, the conveyor slats can move laterally, as well as lengthwise, relative to the drive units. This relative movement between the slats and their drive units can cause problems at the mechanical connections between the two, and this relative movement tends to increase as the weight of the load increases. The present invention also is directed to alleviating any problems caused by relative movement between the conveyor slats and drive units.
For background purposes, reference is made to my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,870, which discloses different methods of connecting conveyor slats to drive members with a quick-release design.